Learning from a Different Angle
by Thea3
Summary: Bulma invented a cool new machine but she needs someone to test it. Bra convinces Pan and it does some crazy stuff, but the final test ends up a disaster. It's kinda a cliffhanger. Chapter two will be up...in a long time^^


"Oh my god Trunks! Bra! Vegeta! Come quick! I think I have it!" Bulma called shrilly from her laboratory. Trunks looked up from his magazine and called "Coming Mom!" then walked away. Bra, who was trying to fit Vegeta into a suit-"Daddy, what will happen when I get married? You need to be the best man!"-Grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs to the laboratory.  
  
"What is it Mama?" Bra asked once they were all gathered around the large machine Bulma had been working on for the past few months.  
  
"It's a machine," Bulma's voice was hushed. "That can turn you any age if," here she pressed a green button, "you press this button. It can take you backwards or forwards in time if you press this button." She went on to tell them the many other uses such as turning people into the opposite gender, turning humans into other species, and many others.  
  
"Yes yes woman that's very interesting but I really must get back to my training so if you weaklings don't mind, I'm going." Vegeta turned on his heel and left.  
  
"Now," said Bulma when he was gone, "All we need is some brave person to test it." Trunks and Bra both looked at each other as if to say "Why don't you do it?" but neither of them said anything. Bulma looked from one to the other and finally said, "Well? Any ideas?" They both shook their heads.  
  
"I really need to catch up on my work." Trunks cleared his throat. "I guess that leaves Bra to do the job. Well, see you guys, bye." He left.  
  
"No way am I going to try out that thing! What if it permanently turns me into a guy?" Bra asked distastefully. "Why doesn't one of the Sons or the Kuri's do it?"  
  
"You know, it's a lot to ask, but we can try. Why don't you go IM Pan and Marron and ask them?" Bulma looked at her beautiful daughter questioningly.  
  
"Sure Mama. Bye!" the dainty blue-haired teen skipped out of the room to her computer.  
  
WonderB: hi Pan, Marron! I had to ask you something  
  
GrrlPower: ?  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: wat?  
  
WonderB: well see my mom just made a new machine and she needs sum1 to test it on  
  
GrrlPower: why don't u or Trunx?  
  
WonderB: well T claims to have work to do and.  
  
GrrlPower: wat? Ur scared?  
  
WonderB: well one of the things it does is turns ppl into the opposite sex!  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: GROSS!!!  
  
GrrlPower: can't it change u bak 2 tho?  
  
WonderB: its supposed to but what if it doesn't work!?  
  
GrrlPower: don't u trust ur mom?  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: ya isn't she supposed to be the smartest woman in the world?  
  
WonderB: but WHAT IF?  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: well in that case I better not  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: my mom would kill ur mom B-chan  
  
WonderB: will u try then Panny-chan?  
  
GrrlPower: it may just be worth it if.  
  
WonderB: WAT!?  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: WAT!?  
  
GrrlPower: wellllllllllll Bra-chan  
  
WonderB: WAT!?  
  
GrrlPower: if ur brother does a lil sumthing for me, I mite just do it..  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: ooooh do u have a crush on him?  
  
WonderB: *snickers*  
  
GrrlPower: SHUT UP!!  
  
WonderB: no, seriously wat duz he needa do?  
  
GrrlPower: well he and Goten have been getting farther and farther apart and its getting pretty depressing  
  
WonderB: i know!  
  
GrrlPower: well i was thinking maybe all of us-like me u guys t and g.maybe Ubuu too.could go off to some island sumwhere and just camp out.far away from civilization.  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: sounds great!! But wat duz it hafta do w/ Trunks?  
  
GrrlPower: well since hez so busy "working" he probably wont wanna go  
  
WonderB: so u need him to agree to go!  
  
GrrlPower: exactly!  
  
Kawaii_Blondie: well I g2g wash the dishes, cya gurlz!  
  
GrrlPower: I g2g too. Cya!  
  
WonderB: baibai!!  
  
Pan gulped. She knew it was now or never, whether it meant turning her into a boy or worse. She decided not to tell her parents, it would probably be alright. She opened the window of her room as quietly as she could and, with a burst of ki, she was off.  
  
Bra, Marron, Bulma and Pan were gathered around of the machine.  
  
"Pan-chan, listen. Are you sure about this? I don't want Videl to get mad at me or anything, there's nothing worse than a lost friendship." Bulma sighed wearily.  
  
"Yeah, if I get back by eight It'll be fine. What are all the things this hunk o' metal does anyway?" Pan asked, tapping it's side cautiously. When nothing happened she ran her hand up and down it's side.  
  
"It goes back in time, forward in time, turns you into the opposite gender, turns you into a different species, turns you a different age, changes your power level, lets you see a picture of the deepest desire in your heart- don't worry Pan-chan only you'll be able to see that stud." Bulma winked and Marron and Bra giggled.  
  
Pan frowned, annoyed, and asked, "What else?"  
  
"It can take your brain and switch it with the brain of any animal," Bulma continued, laughing. "That's just about it, I think. Yes, that's it. What do you want to try first?"  
  
"I'll do the time travel stuff last," Pan decided. Then she gulped. "I'll do the gender switch first. To get it over with." Bulma nodded, a serious look on her face. Then she opened a long door on one side of the machine.  
  
"Step on in," She said to Pan, trying to sound reassuring. Pan stepped into the steamy chamber and let Bulma close the door. "Ready?" Bulma called.  
  
Her voice sounded distant in the hazy room, but Pan called back "Ready as I'll ever be." The room filled with a fog so thick she couldn't see a thing. Seconds later she felt her breasts being squeezed together, then disappear. The room had filled with a fog so thick she couldn't see a thing. Her chest felt so light she almost collapsed forward, but the hard wall stopped her. Then there was a searing pain between her legs. She cried out in pain as something started to grow. Once it had grown to be about two and a half inches, it stopped, and the pain stopped almost as quickly as it had come. Then came the worst part. Muscles bulged out from under her tank top and jeans. Her feet grew so large that her shoes ripped. She winced as her shirt was torn to shreds by the rapidly growing muscles. Her pants became so tight that her zipper came undone and her button snapped clean off. She prayed that her underwear would stay on. To her great relief, about ten seconds later, the fog in the chamber cleared and she could see the body of a man wearing ripped girls jeans and thin white underwear. On the floor of the chamber were pieces of shoes, a bra and a tank top. She gasped and leaned against the door for support. That was the wrong thing to do. Bulma opened the door and Pan fell out. To the horror of the three women, they saw a young man that looked uncannily like Goku. The only difference was that this man had long silky black hair tied in a bandana. And he was wearing only scraps of jeans and a pair of almost completely see- through underwear. Bra shrieked. Marron covered her eyes and turned away. Bulma swallowed and made her eyes go to Pan's face.  
  
"Pan-chan? Are you alright?" Pan lifted her head. Her face was bright red.  
  
"I've been better," she managed to say. "Can I change back now? As in right away?" Bulma nodded quickly.  
  
"Hop right in." Pan did so. She tried to think about what she would do next instead of concentrating on her ever lightening body, the growth in her chest and the strange feeling between her legs. When Bulma opened the door again, Pan stepped out, clad only in a pair of underwear. She tried her best to cover up her chest as Bulma ran off to get some clothes. She reappeared holding a pair of embroidered bellbottoms and a tiny pink halter- top. "These are the only things I could find that you wouldn't hate," Bulma apologized sympathetically. Pan grudgingly squeezed into the outfit.  
  
"I'll drive over to your house and get you a pair of clothes," Marron offered.  
  
"Thanks, but it'll be faster if I just fly. Be right back!" Pan took off at full speed.  
  
"Back!" Pan crawled through the window in a pair of khaki shorts, a blue striped tank top and an orange hooded sweatshirt, on her head was her favorite orange bandana.  
  
"Ugh, Pan!" Bra exclaimed. "Those are the grossest pants you have ever worn! And I swear Marron, she has worn some pretty gross stuff!"  
  
"At least I don't dress like a slut!" Pan shot back. Bra was wearing a plastic jacket, a tiny shirt with a flower embroidered on the breast, and skin-tight Capri's, all in hot pink.  
  
"Please girls!" Marron got between the cat fighters. "Just let's hurry up and get on with the testing, okay?"  
  
"NO!" Pan and Bra spat in unison. Marron, who was wearing a cottony pink sweater and a flowery pink dress, stepped back and looked helplessly at Bulma.  
  
"YOU KIDS STOP FIGHTING THIS MINUTE YOU HERE ME? NOW SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!" Bulma shrieked in her unholy voice. Pan and Bra stared at her silently and nodded their heads. "Good." Bulma smiled sweetly and turned back to the machine. "What would you like to do next?"  
  
"Uh." Pan was still shaken from the older woman's assault. "I.I'll do.um.the species one." She stepped into the chamber, hoping with all her heart that it wouldn't be as painful as the previous transformation.  
  
"What should I change you into?" Bulma asked.  
  
"A full-blooded saiyan." Pan grinned. Only a minute later she stepped out. Everything about her was exactly the same. She, Marron and Bra were very disappointed. "Saiyans don't look much different from humans, or demi- saiyans," Bulma explained. "The only difference is that Saiyans have very dark hair. Pan has naturally black hair, so she doesn't look any different."  
  
"But how do we find out if the machine worked or not?" Bra whined. Bulma rubbed her chin thoughtfully and looked down at her daughter. "I don't know." she drifted off and stared into space. "Got it! Pan-chan, try to go super saiyan." Pan powered up. Usually she could easily go super saiyan two in seconds, but now she struggled. After three tries she gave up.  
  
"I.can't." she gasped, sweat running down her nose and dripping off it's tip.  
  
"Then it worked alright!" Bulma was ecstatic. "Full blooded saiyans are rarely ever strong enough to go super saiyan till they reach their twenties. Half saiyans usually turn it by about ten, and you Pan? Didn't you go super saiyan at five?"  
  
"And two months!" Pan beamed. She'd never forget that day. "Let's hurry. It's already four!" The other two glanced at the clock on the wall, then back to Pan. She turned back to a quarter saiyan in the passing of less than a minute, then returned to the steamy chamber to change age. She chose the age of thirty-one. "A year older than Uncle Goten," she had said. "Trunks' age," she had thought. This time the transformation was very quick and painless. Again, there was hardly any difference in her looks. Bulma took a sample of her blood and, five minutes later, claimed that Pan was exactly thirty-one years and three seconds old. All the girls chuckled at this precise outcome but quickly went back to business. She changed her power level to ten billion. When she departed the chamber she had bigger muscles than any of them had ever seen on a girl her age. She powered up and seconds later she had reached super saiyan five. She laughed with excitement at her newfound powers as Bulma Bra and Marron cowered in the corner, whimpering at the radiantly shaggy figure of their friend.  
  
"Don't Pan-chan!" Marron managed to yell. Pan lowered her ki.  
  
"Sorry about that," she chuckled. "Next I'll do the deepest desire thingy okay, Bulma-san?"  
  
"Bulma nodded and opened the door to the chamber. Pan went back down to her normal power level. Entering the chamber again, she was told that the fog would clear and on the left wall of the chamber would be a picture of the thing she wanted most. With her excitement mounting, she carefully stepped into the now recognizably misty chamber. Seconds after the button had been pressed, the fog cleared and she turned towards the left wall. She saw herself holding a tiny bundle. The bundle was squirming. Her picture self pushed back the blanket to reveal a tiny face surrounded by tendrils of black hair. Then a very tall and very handsome Trunks walked into the picture room. He kissed her hair and put his arms around her. Then the moving picture went motionless and disappeared. Pan drew in her breath sharply. What if that was also the future? She doubted it, but it was a possibility. When Bulma opened the door, Pan was still gazing, wide-eyed, at the wall.  
  
"Pan-chan?" Bulma waved her hand in front of Pan's huge black eyes.  
  
"Earth to Panny!" Bra snapped her fingers in front of Pan's face. Her eyes blinked with a start and she swung around.  
  
"We weren't-I never-Trunks is-it's not-it never-we never"-she spluttered. Bra fell backwards, her whole body shaking with laughter.  
  
"It's Trunks.you like him.oh my friggin god this is hilarious!" tears of mirth streamed from the demi-saiyans eyes. Marron's shoulders were shaking and even Bulma had a hard time trying not to burst into laughter. Pan's shoulders were shaking and her face was turning red with rage.  
  
"SHUT UP!!!!!" All three froze.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ma'am."  
  
"So," Bulma said after a moment, "was it your greatest desire or not?"  
  
"I guess." Pan sighed. "Now what?"  
  
"You said time travel last, so now we can do the animal brain switch." Bulma shook her head as if she had just remembered something. "Don't try a frog. I know from experience that it's not pleasant."  
  
"Fine." Pan flicked a wisp of hair behind her ear. "A rabbit." Bulma shrugged.  
  
"Whatever floats your boat. Hop on in." Pan did so, only to hop out seconds later, with the brain of a rabbit. Out of a small door on the side of the chamber a rabbit hopped out.  
  
It made a bunch of faint sniffing noises, then gave up and glared at Bulma, as if to say "Put my brain back in my body you!" Meanwhile, Pan with the rabbit's brain hopped over to Marron and started nibbling on the flowers on her dress. The three laughed uproariously until the Rabbit with Pan's brain leapt on Bulma and began pawing at her face.  
  
Marron pushed back Pan with the rabbit's brain and gasped, "Turn her back, please! My mom will kill me!" Bulma shoved the Rabbit and Pan back into their spots and pressed the button to turn them back. When all was said and done, the rabbit was in its cage and Pan standing next to Bra, spitting out shreds of Marron's dress.  
  
"Pyuck! Ugh! What's that dress made of anyway!?"  
  
"Pan." Bulma stepped in front of her. "Time travel time." Her eyes shifted. "Past or future first?"  
  
Pan looked down. "Future," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Ten years." Bulma merely nodded and motioned to the chamber. Pan stepped in slowly and closed the door behind her.  
  
She heard Bulma's blurred voice saying something like "Try to stay calm," then her world spun into a swirling chaos. Things were flying by her, visions of purple-haired people and an occasional black-haired or blonde person. Shiny silver machines flew by, tears fell, laughter, talking and crashes sounded. Her obsidian locks stung, blown in her eyes as she spun around and around. Then it stopped. She fell with a loud thud on a hard metal floor and her vision cleared. A forty-one year old Trunks sat at a desk, typing away in front of a flickering screen. He turned at the sound of her fall and shook his head remorsefully.  
  
"Shi-wait, you're not Shi-Pan-chan?" He shook his head again, this time in disbelief. Pan nodded.  
  
"Remember when your mom built that thingy-ma-jigger ten years ago and Bra convinced me to test it?" she asked expectantly. Trunks ran his fingers through his hair then looked up brightly.  
  
"Yeah!" then he chuckled. "I never would have imagined-never mind. Why don't you go back now so you don't find out anything that could affect the past. Here's the newest time machine." He pointed to a control panel on one side of the lab. "Just put your hand here, then type in ten, then press the green button." Pan did as she was told and was instantly, and painlessly, teleported back into her own time, and into the dreaded chamber. She banged on the door till Bulma let her out.  
  
"Pan-chan! How was it? How long did you stay?" Bulma was full of questions.  
  
"It was fine, but kinda uncomfortable, and I stayed about five seconds 'cause your saintly son made me come back before I could find out anything that could affect the past." She snorted.  
  
"Really?" Bra laughed. "My brother? Saintly? Heh. I bet it didn't work." She looked at Marron, who shrugged.  
  
"It sounds pretty unlikely, the saint stuff I mean, but his stinginess sounds pretty real." Bra and Pan both giggled. Bulma glowered at them and said,  
  
"If it was Trunks and he was forty-one, it worked. Ready for the next one?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah. How about thirty-five years so Mom and Dad are seventeen." Bulma nodded and Pan went into the chamber for the final time. The same spinning sensation hit her body, but when she landed, it wasn't in a laboratory, but a grassy field. Then it hit her-neither that extension of the lab nor the time machine had been built yet. 


End file.
